Innate immune signaling must be tightly controlled to protect from infection while preventing aberrant inflammation. Understanding how innate immunity is regulated is critical for combating both pathogens and autoimmune disorders. The Gokhale Lab is dedicated to understanding how RNA scaffolds immune signaling complexes, regulating antiviral and inflammatory responses. Our research combines cutting-edge RNA biology, immunology, and virology to uncover mechanisms that could lead to novel therapeutic strategies.

RESEARCH AREAS

  • RNA and the MAVS Signalosome in Antiviral Immunity

Sensing viral RNA by RIG-I-like receptors leads to forming a higher-order multi-protein signaling complex centered on the adaptor protein MAVS, ultimately inducing interferons and an antiviral state. We have identified that cellular mRNAs interact with MAVS to promote its function by mediating interactions with RNA-modulated interacting proteins. We are currently investigating:

  1. How RNA-modulated MAVS interacting proteins regulate antiviral immunity

  2. The role of specific RNA molecules in promoting MAVS function

  3. The biochemical basis of MAVS-RNA interaction

  4. The diverse functions of the large central disordered domain of MAVS

  • RNA Regulation of other immune signaling complexes

Large signaling complexes are a unifying feature of immune signaling complexes. We are interested in the riboregulation of other immune signaling complexes such as those that form downstream of Toll-like receptor and NOD-like receptor signaling.